Monday, September 14, 2009

Sprouting Grains : How To

Sprouting grains is a fantastic and simple way to get superb nutrition in your diet.

When you know how to sprout grains you can live off of a years supply of wheat. As long as you also have water, of course.

Sprouting your grains is kind of like getting your fruits and vegetables from your grains. Sprouted grains have even more nutrients than the un-sprouted grains. For instance whole wheat kernels have lots of nutrients, but they lack Vitamin C. If you sprout them, they suddenly have Vitamin C. Also sprouts are easier to eat, and to digest, than the whole grains.

Here are the simple steps to sprouting grain.

Soak the grain in water over night. (8 to 12 hours at room temperature).

Then rinse and drain the water off of them approximately every 6 to 8 hours. (Keep them moist, but not sitting in water, at room temperature.)

I do this in a glass jar with netting over the opening, held in place by a rubber band. I invert the jar at an angle and let it set in a small bowl. The jar (on it's side) is longer than the bowl is wide, so that keeps the jar tipped so that all the water can drain out of it. The netting, of course, keeps the grains in the jar, but allows the water to drain.

You can eat the sprouts at any time throughout this process. Taste them at different times and see how you like them. Some like them best just right after the initial soaking. I usually like mine about a day later. You can continue this process as long as you like, but eventually you will have grass.

When the sprouts reach the point that you like them best, move them to the refrigerator. This doesn't stop the sprouting process completely, but it does slow it down drastically.

One more note about sprouting. You can also sprout beans.

My mother taught us that if you sprout the beans before making chili, it takes the gas out of them. Now that's useful information!

Thanks Mom!

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